I Became the Villainess, But My Beast Husbands Can Hear My Mind?!

”Calen?” She called his name after he stayed quiet for too long. ”Are you alright?”

The moment her sweet voice reached his ears, Calen snapped out of his thoughts. ”I’m fine.”

He rubbed the soapberries between his palms, his eyes unable to stop staring at her flawless back. A moment later, he gently brushed his palms across her skin, feeling its softness beneath his touch.

On the other side, Roxanna held her breath. Her entire face turned red, and her body gradually grew warmer. Every time Calen’s rough palms touched her skin, it sent a sensation through her that she couldn’t quite put into words.

The butterflies in her stomach fluttered wildly, as if trying to show just how excited Calen’s touch made her feel.

”Thank you for saving me earlier,” Calen suddenly said. His voice was a little rough and low, and somehow, it sparked something in her heart.

”I... I didn’t do anything special,” Roxanna replied in a small voice. ”I even fell down with you.”

[He keeps running his hands along my spine...] Roxanna lowered her head slightly and bit her lower lip, her body reacting far too shamelessly to his touch.

[The system was right. I really am a pervert. I should be ashamed of myself.]

Calen frowned. He didn’t understand why having desire should be considered something shameful. Wasn’t it natural to have such feelings? After all, it was their instinct, something meant to allow them to have offspring.

”You didn’t just fall with me,” Calen bent closer and whispered near her ear. ”You made me realize that I’m not alone anymore, and that means a lot to me.”

[Ding! Calen’s affection increased by 10%]

Roxanna’s eyes widened slightly when she heard the announcement. She hadn’t expected Calen’s affection to increase by that much when she hadn’t done anything obvious like kissing him.

[Physical contact is not the only way to gain affection from others, Host.]

The system chimed in. [Understanding someone and making them feel seen also counts.]

[Sometimes, people value words more than physical intimacy.]

Roxanna narrowed her eyes, thinking that the system sounded a bit hypocritical. If it really understood that, then it shouldn’t have pushed the mating approach in the first place.

[Host, mating isn’t just about sex! Yes, you’re a bit shameless, but that doesn’t make mating dirty!]

The system replied quickly. [When mating, it involves trust, connection, and the willingness to accept another person completely. Physical closeness is only one part of it.]

Roxanna pressed her lips together, feeling a strange mix of embarrassment and thoughtfulness.

[Sometimes, a few sincere words, shared fear, or staying together in danger can deepen affection more than any physical act,] the system continued.

[That is why Calen’s affection increased. You didn’t touch his body, but you touched his heart.]

Touched his heart?

Back then, she believed that the only way to receive love from a man was through sex and by making his life easier.

But now... even though she hadn’t mated with all of her husbands, they still cared for her and tried their best to make her life easier.

Honestly, Roxanna sometimes even made their lives harder. She asked them to dig wells or go hunting, yet they still cleaned the huts and let her sleep inside, even when she didn’t help at all.

It felt strange. But maybe... these were just normal things men did for the women they loved.

The problem was that her ex-husband had never been a good example. Because of that, Roxanna often struggled to tell the difference between what was normal care and what was something special.

So now, every kind thing her current husbands did felt extraordinary to her, even if others would say it was just basic.

”I just don’t want you to be alone,” Roxanna said softly. A moment later, lightning struck the sky, making her flinch in surprise.

”I think we’re clean enough,” Calen said, pulling her closer to him. ”Let’s go back inside.”

Calen then led her back into the cave. He piled stones at the entrance, preventing any demon beasts from disturbing them.

Their bodies were still wet, and since there was no clean cloth to use as a towel, Roxanna chose to sit by the campfire and wait for her body to dry.

Calen placed several clean, dry large leaves underneath her so she wouldn’t have to worry about getting dirty.

Roxanna pulled her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around herself. The air between them grew awkward as they sat side by side without any clothes.

From time to time, Calen’s arm brushed against hers—maybe by accident, maybe not—and each touch sent a small flutter through her heart.

The crackling sound of the campfire was the only thing echoing inside the cave. When the silence became too heavy, Roxanna finally spoke.

”I used to be alone too,” she said softly. ”I can’t say my past life was worse than yours, but... I think I understand that loneliness, at least a little.”

She pressed her lips into a thin line. Honestly, she didn’t understand why she suddenly opened up about her past to Calen, but it was probably because she hadn’t been able to talk about it for days, afraid that others would think she was crazy.

”What about companions?” Calen asked. ”Did you have anyone back then?”

”You mean... friends?” Roxanna turned toward him. Her face looked softer as the campfire’s light shone on it. ”Yes, I had some friends, but it was more like... coworkers. You know, people who worked at the same place as me.”

”Work? Like a slave?”

Roxanna almost replied that it was indeed modern slavery, but she decided not to say that.

”No, it’s not like that. They gave me something as a reward after I finished my job, like money.” Roxanna paused for a moment, then continued, ”It was a good job. I earned a lot of money and even built an underground shelter beneath my house.”

Calen fell silent, because he knew that the so-called ’shelter’ was the place Roxanna often referred to as ’hell’ in her mind.

”What did you do? Did you do something like taking care of a farm?” Calen asked. He just wanted to know more about her, and since she rarely talked about her past work, he didn’t know much about it.

”No.” Roxanna shook her head and rested her chin on her knees. Her voice dropped to a whisper. ”I was a meteorologist.”

Calen blinked. ”A... meteorologist?” He repeated the word slowly, as if tasting it for the first time. ”Is that some kind of warrior? Or a healer?”

Roxanna couldn’t help but smile a little. She shook her head. ”No. I studied the sky.”

”The sky?” Calen frowned, clearly confused.

”Yes,” she said softly. ”I watched the clouds, the wind, the rain. I tried to understand when storms would come, when the weather would change, and how dangerous it might be.”

Calen stared at her in silence. To him, the weather was something that simply happened. Rain fell when the gods willed it. Thunder roared when the beasts of the sky were angry, so no one tried to predict it.

”You could... know before it happened?” he asked slowly.

”Not perfectly,” Roxanna replied. ”But sometimes, yes. Enough to warn people. Enough to help them prepare.”

Calen asked. ”So... you protected others?”

Roxanna looked down at the fire. ”That was the idea.”

The firelight danced in her eyes as she went on, her voice quiet but steady. ”If I warned them that a storm was coming, they could hide, store food, or stay inside. But... they didn’t listen to my last warning. Some of them did, thankfully. Most of them didn’t.”

Back then, she had tried to warn her superiors and even several politicians. She told them that something terrible would happen in the future—that there was a strong chance the world would fall into another ice age.

Unfortunately, they brushed her off and said that the data she was seeing was just an error.

Actually, that wasn’t surprising, since people had always known her as the nerdy Roxanna, the one who preferred working or watching dramas rather than socializing with her coworkers.

After being ignored again and again, she finally stopped warning them. Instead, she decided to protect herself. She built a shelter beneath her house and sold many of her land properties to gather enough money.

At first, her husband didn’t believe her either. But when the air slowly grew colder, he began to realize she was right. That was when he asked her to bring her best friend into the shelter too.

Of course, she agreed to it because she had already planned to invite her best friend to live with her as well, but unfortunately, that kindness ended up turning into a disaster.

Roxanna fell silent after that. She hugged her knees tighter, her fingers slowly digging into her own arms. ”If only the people who were with me in that shelter had been you, my life would probably have been better.”